Uo. 1. ] Miscellaneous Note». 37 



was also found owing- to the sting-iug- properties of the bristles with which 

 the caterpillars were armed. It is not thoug-bt likely that these cater- 

 pillars will occasion any very serious injury. The moths emerged on 

 26th January, and were forwarded to Colonel Swinhoe, vyho has deter- 

 mined them as belonging- to a new species of Miresa, which he is describ- 

 ing under the name of Miresa cotesi. 



From Handerzai, situated at an elevation of about 4,000 feet in Balu- 

 chistan, Mr, Clegliorn sends an CEstrid Fly 



Horse CEstrid in Baluchistan. • , ,i • p ,- ,i , i i « i . 



With the mrormation that he has round it in 

 November laying its eggs at the ends of the hair on horses^ legs and 

 other parts of the body that can be reached by the horse's mouth. "Whilst 

 laying its eggs the insect does not disturb the horse, but immediately 

 afterwards irritation sets in, possibly from tiie itching- caused by the 

 frequent settling- of the fly, and the horse bites the place where the 

 eggs are laid, so that some of the eg-gs find their way into the animal's 

 mouth, and thence into its stomach where they develop. Careful 

 grooming- and the application of a nose-bag to prevent the horse 

 from biting off the eggs have been found to be the most practicable 

 means of protecting the animal from the pest. The specimen was sub- 

 mitted for identification to Mons. J. M. F. Bigot, who reports that 

 it is a variety of the well-known European form [Gastrophilus eqiii), 

 which has been described under the name of (Estrus bengalensls (JMaeq., 

 Dipt. Exot.). The life history of this insect is no doubt the same as that 

 of the true Gastrophilus equi, which, according to Williston, lays four 

 or five hundred eggs, generally on the inner side of the horse's knees, the 

 horse showing great annoyance and often becoming unmanageable, 

 though the insect can cause but little irritation in the process of laying its 

 eggs. The eggs hatch a few days after they are laid, and the larvae get 

 taken in the horse's mouth when it is biting the irritated spots. They 

 are then swallowed with the food, and, upon entering the stomach, attach 

 themselves to the inner membrane by means of the booklets that encircle 

 the mouth. Here they remain for nine or ten months feeding on the 

 suppurative matter produced by the irritation they set up within the 

 stomach, and when full-fed they loosen their hold and are carried through 

 the intestinal canal and ejected with the excrement. They then burrow 

 into the ground and transform into pupse, from which the images emerge 

 in thirty or forty days. When only a few grubs are present in a horse's 

 stomach they are said to cause but little injury to the animal, hut when 

 they exist in large numbers they may produce sufficient inflammation or 

 loss of blood, in some cases even to cause death. 



